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by breadisjelly



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 14:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20996501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breadisjelly/pseuds/breadisjelly
Summary: What started as an average post-bar night, became one of the worst days for Humanity





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**Author's Note:**

  * For [omnisan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/omnisan/gifts).

* * *

"Hey! Seraph!" Beowulf called over to his best friend after the parade was over. It took a while to pick her out of the crowd. Every Hunter word the same armor today, so her regular armor choices weren't an option to find her with, but eventually he found her. Her silver hair and jade eyes stood out in a crowd, plus, she's blue. 

"Hey! There you are! What's up?"

"Now that the parade is over, we were gonna head over to the bar and get some drinks, wanna come with?" Beowulf begged, knowing full well that Seraph probably wouldn't want to drink much if at all.

"Is now really a good time? We just had this parade is it a good idea to go to a bar now?"

"I mean, this whole day is about celebrating Humanities victories these last few years, when's a better time than now!" he exclaimed, louder than intended.

"No, I'm fine thanks. Wait, will uh, do you think Cayde would be there?" Seraph asked, trying to hide her excitement over possibly seeing Cayde.

"No, he has his bar, we have ours."

"Oh," she replied, visibly disappointed. "Well. I guess I'll go anyway. Besides, _ someone _ has to take care of you when you're wasted, but I am NOT carrying you home again!"

"Okay, _ mom _.

It was a bit of a walk to the bar where tonight's plans were going down. Quite a ways into the City, away from the walls and the last tower, looming high over the City. But not as high as the Traveller.

"Who is "we" anyway? You never did tell me." Seraph questioned after a while.

"Oh, just some of us Titans from the Order. It's our go-to bar, it's within view of the Firebreak Eternal, so it just kinda makes sense we go there." He explained.

"Okay, so one Hunter and an unknown amount of Titans drinking, huh? So I'm going to be the only sober one here then."

"Then don't not drink then!"

"I plan on drinking, just not _ nearly _ as much as you will."

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when you're not having as much fun as we are!. Anyway, we're here!" Beowulf exclaimed as he opened a door to the loud bar inside

\--An Unknown Time Later--

Beowulf rolled over in his bed, uncomfortably. He wasn't sure how he had made it home or what time it was. What he _ did _ know was his head was pounding from a massive hangover. He was still wearing his armor except for his helmet. The large, bulky shoulder pauldrons were the cause of his discomfort while lying on his side. Slowly, he sat up, clutching his head. 

"Oh, good morning! I thought I was going to have to rez you." Beowulf retreated at the voice.

"Why are you screaming at me Cobalt, I'm right here.."

"I'm not screaming at you, you're just hungover is all. You'll be fine." but Cobalt dropped her voice to a loud whisper anyway.

"Can't you just heal me so we can get passed this?"

"Mmm. Nah. How will you learn if I fixed all your boo-boos?" she half scolded, half teased. 

"Ugh, fine, I'll suffer. Where's Seraph at anyway?"

"She went home after she had to carry you home. Again. Even though she said she wasn't. I gave her some glimmer for her troubles."

"Great, I'm gonna have to listen to her say 'I told you so', the next time I see her. I'm not gonna worry about it right now though. Now, I'm taking my armor off and going back to bed."

"Yeah, that would be a good idea Beowulf. She can help at you tomorrow."

"Boy, am I excited for that." Beowulf grunted as he stood up out of bed to shed his armor. After removing the armor and striping down to his regular under-armor clothing, he had Cobalt transmat them to the vaults before slipping back under the covers and passing back out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The storm kept Beowulf from a perfect sleep though. The flashes of lighting and booms of thunder slowly pushed him towards consciousness, but he always drifted back off. It wasn't until he heard what sounded like fireworks mixed with the thunder that drove him to anger. Luckily, all the lights had gone off in his dorm, so no light could try to force its way through his eyelids. He was going to continue sleeping, or try to with all the ruckus going on outside, until he heard a voice calling his name.

"Beowulf! Wake up! Please, wake up!"

"Seraph? What do you want, have you come to gloat already?" He asked, sitting up to see what's going on. It wasn't until he opened his eyes to see Cobalt, not Seraph, floating in front of him. She had changed out of the red and white City Shell and into her regular gold and silver Iron Shell that Saladin had given her. Why had he thought it was Seraph, they sound nothing alike.

"We gotta go! Get up, and get your armor on! NOW!" she pleaded, with Beowulf and shone her flashlight to the ground by Beowulf's feet, showing him the armor he had work at the parade.

"Where's my normal armor? Why the rush?" He asked, groggily equipping his boots and greaves. 

"The City is under attack! THAT is why! Now let's GO!" now that had gotten through his hangover and sobered him up fully in an instant. He stopped asking questions and fully geared up and left his dorm behind. He could tell many other Guardians had done the same as nearly every door in his halfway were wide open. Some Guardians were also just leaving and he followed them out. Everyone around him we're heading down to the City streets, not up to the Tower. It wasn't until he got outside and looked up that he saw why. The tower was on fire, crumbling. He didn't need to ask what happened. He had presumed the entire Cabal fleet above the City had been responsible for that. 

Cobalt had tried to transmat his regular weapon loadout to him, but she couldn't connect to the tower's vaults. They must've been damaged in the attack. It appeared the Guardians around him had the same issue as they were grabbing any and all weapons that some of Shaxx's Redjack Crucible frames were handing out. He grabbed a pulse rifle and shotgun before taking off in a direction. It didn't take long before he ran into a group of hulking, bipedal monsters that were the Cabal. Luckily, they didn't appear to have any Psions with them. But they did have a new creature with them. These were some sort of war beast, they caught his scent before their handlers saw him, but he quickly finished them off with his shotgun before swapping to his pulse rifle to take out the Legionaries. Easy. Now to repeat that until he couldn't anymore. 

But he had to take the fight out of the City, as best as he could. He needed to try to lure some Cabal away. The heart of his Order demanded it. He needed to find a good place to fight. And fight to the death. His or theirs. Luckily, he could come back and they couldn't so much. He fought his way to one of the City gates where Guardians were herding civilians through to get them to safety. He picked a position to draw fire away from the gate and fought until they were clear. Cobalt had to revive him once or twice. The first death took care of his hangover, thankfully. But that shot through the chest hurt a lot worse than the headache.

Once the civilians had been cleared the gate, he and the other Guardians on overwatch followed behind, watching their back in case more Cabal were coming. The City was in ruins, and the best he could do was hope the Cabal would chase them down. If they did, he would lure them away, find the perfect spot. And possibly his final stand, if it came to that. He was prepared to die his final death to save those who couldn't fight. 

No Cabal followed them, though. The civilian and their Guardian saviors continued their exodus from the City. No one knew where to go. But Beowulf knee he needed to get to the Iron Temple. He summoned his sparrow and took off in that direction. He couldn't get his ship, the Hangar was destroyed, possibly most of the Guardian jumpships were too. He didn't get very far before he felt all of the air vacate his lungs, causing him to crash into a nearby tree, knocking him out cold.

He woke up sometime later, his head pounding again. It was dark out so he couldn't have been out for very long. He tried to stand up but his left leg has been broken in the crash, and it felt like his ribs in his right side were broken or bruised. He held out his hand to summon Cobalt but she didn't appear.

"Cobalt? Are you there? I need help, please talk to me." he continued pleading to her in the darkness. He felt around on the ground around him, moving his leg as little as possible when he found a cube laying on the ground. At first he thought he had somehow found a chunk of glimmer, until he picked it up and felt the Iron sigil emblazoned on it. It was Cobalt. He picked her up and inspected her. She didn't seem broken. Her shell was a bit dented, but her eye was "closed". There was no way she could be dead. But if she was, this would be a _ pathetic _ final death. There was no way he could fight like this. He couldn't stand, he had no Light. All he would be able to do is get a few shots off before they crushed him like a twig. And if it wasn't the Cabal that found him, some Fallen would. They'd steal his Ghost and kill him. He had to move. He had to get somewhere that might be safe. 

His sparrow was still nearby. He found a nearby branch and used it as a sort of crutch to help him walk to it. It was a struggle to flip it back upright, and it was damaged from the crash but seemed to be fine. One of the front prongs was bent outwards, but it seemed to run just well enough to get him somewhere. It was tough to drive with his leg busted and the sparrow itself in bad shape, but he still steered one handed for he was holding Cobalt tight to his chest, still unsure if she was dead or unconscious. He wasn't aware if Ghosts even _ could _sleep. 

Around sun up, he found a run down village and pulled up to a house that looked the least destroyed. He parked his sparrow inside and hobbled his way into what used to be a living room or maybe a dining room. He sat himself down on a couch, leg out clutching his ribs. He looked down at the shell in his hand before setting her down on the table next to him. He turned her to face him before taking off his helmet and leaning back to try to sleep, even for a little. If he passed in his sleep or was killed in his sleep, then so be it. It would still be a pathetic way to go, but he couldn't help it. Not like this. He closed his eyes, and hoped for the best. 

Beowulf hadn't had them closed for long when he heard a sound next to him. At first he reads some Fallen has stumbled upon him or had followed him and we're making their move on him, ready to end him while he was weakened. But it wasn't, it was Cobalt! She was softly groaning as she woke up. He turned to see her eye blinking open. On? One of those. Even those she had only one eye and it didn't really have much expression to the blue diamonds, she looked tired and groggy. Maybe even sick. A thought crossed Beowulf's mind that made him laugh and wince when his ribs ached. 

"What's so funny..?" she finally muttered.

"Not so long ago it was me who couldn't wake up, but my how the tables have turned. If only this was a good time to have a good laugh about it. Kinda hurts right now though."

"Are... Are you sitting upside down on the c-ceiling?" 

"No... Are you okay? Oh, wait, that's my fault." Beowulf went to reach over and flip her right-side up, not realizing he had placed her wrong. Cobalt must've been insulted by the gesture because she floated out of his hand and rotated herself. She stayed hovering around Beowulf, inspecting his injuries. 

"Beowulf I... S-something's wrong. I can't feel the Light. I... It's just... Gone..." 

"Gone? What do you mean it's _ gone _ ? How is that even _ possible _?" Beowulf was now much more worried than he was when he thought Cobalt was dead. Before he at least knew why he would die for the last time, but now he had no reasonable explanation why. 

"The... The Cabal must've done something. I can't find anything on any frequency though, so I can't get ahold of anyone to get any answers. We're all alone for now."

"So... My leg and ribs need to heal the old fashion way, huh? This is gonna suck, I don't know how to field dress a leg or make a splint or whatever I need to do to it." 

"Oh, that. Right. That I can fix hold on." Cobalt stated as she hovered in front of Beowulf. A beam shot out of her and his leg and ribs were healed. It was as if nothing had happened.

"But-" Beowulf started before being cut off.

"I can't bring you back anymore. But I can do my best to keep you alive. I can keep you healed. I'm not sure how, but I can and that's all that matters right?" She sounded hopeful. It was the best news they had gotten since the bar yesterday. The bar! What happened to Seraph?! Was she still alive? Did she have her Light, or was it gone also? These were questions that couldn't be answered until they could find someone or connect to a radio frequency. But for now they were all alone. And the only plan they had was to get to the Temple. Now that he could walk, he could get up the twisting mountain side much much easier. But first, he needed to rest. Cobalt disappeared into his pocket and agreed to keep watch while he slept on the couch.

\--Days Later--

The Iron Temple was empty, no one was home and the braziers that once blazed were cold. No Lord Saladin, no Shiro, no Tyra, only the wolves still prowled the ancient temple. But the wolves weren't completely alone, though. Beowulf and Cobalt had passed some of Shaxx's Redjacks, who were lumbering about the old Vostok Observatory across the bridge from the Temple. Saladin must have given Shaxx permission to use it as a Crucible arena. The frame Beowulf spoke to introduced itself as Karsux 88-50. It explained that they also had been unable to contact anyone and were waiting for Shaxx to respond to them before they continued their work or to order them elsewhere. The Redjacks weren't of much help, but they did give him an auto rifle since he had misplaced the last weapons he had. It was dangerous to go out unharmed, not that he knew where to go.

There was plenty of meat frozen for the wolves for when game was scare. Beowulf thawed some and fed them all, plus cooked up a piece for himself. It wasn't much but it was better than what he had been having, which was nothing. The wolves could and would hunt for themselves, and had been, but he didn't want them trying to eat the only meal he had had in days. Afterwards, he went inside and lit a fire in one of the old barracks in the temple. The old Iron Lords used to sleep here. Beowulf may have been Saladin's Young Wolf, but he felt like he was snooping around where he wasn't supposed to. Technically, these could be his quarters now... right? It still didn't feel right. He felt like a child sleeping in his parent's bed, or imagined this is what it felt like. He couldn't remember his childhood, of course. 

It had been another few days before he heard one of the Redjacks calling for him from outside the temple.

"Hello? Guardian?"

"Yeah? Any word from, well, anyone yet?" Beowulf replied after lightly jogging out of the temple.

"Yes! There is a broadcast on all Vanguard channels!" The default frame voice always sounded too excited to Beowulf.

"Okay, thank you."

"You're welcome! Have a good day, Guardian!" And with that it left and went back to its work, or whatever the frames had been doing over there. Maybe they got ahold of Shaxx finally.

Beowulf sat down on the steps in front of the temple, and absentmindedly pet a wolf who had worked her way over to him and sat next to him. For wild animals, they were pretty tame. Cobalt scanned the comms for the broadcast and played it from the beginning. It was a female he hadn't heard before saying that all available Guardians should report to a farm in the EDZ. She included coordinates and some active use frequencies for any Guardians who needed a lift. Did that mean Holliday made it out? Maybe, but also maybe not. She wasn't the only pilot the Tower had in the hangar. Beowulf hadn't thought about casualties, there had to be so many civilian and Guardians losses. And he still hadn't heard from Seraph either. Hopefully, she was already there or on her way, though. But first, he had Cobalt patch him into one of the frequencies, when the radio operator responded to his hails, he told them his situation and where he was. It wasn't long until he heard a loud and intense voice yelling on the other end of the radio.

"DID THEY SAY VOSTOK?! Guardian?! HOW. ARE. MY. REDJACKS?!"

"Shaxx, this isn't the Crucible, you don't need to yell."

"Ahh! If it isn't Saladin's Young Wolf! It's good to hear you're alive Beowulf! Now, tell me about my Redjacks, I'm gonna need them! And I will yell as much as I want to!" He wasn't wrong, he was almost always yelling. It was one of the things Beowulf loved about the Titan.

"Your frames are fine, although they seem bored. If they can feel boredom, even. We could use a pick-up though."

"Of course! I'll have a Hawk on its way as soon as possible!" And with that Shaxx left and the operator returned to their comms. But Beowulf could hear Shaxx yelling in the distance about how he was right about wanting to send a Hawk for his frames here. 

It wasn't too long before the Hawk showed up. It was unable to find a landing zone so it got as close as possible and allowed Beowulf and the 7 Redjacks to transmat aboard. And then they were on their way to the Farm. Beowulf inspected his armor on the way there. It had seen better days. Caked with mud, dented, plates missing here and there. The mark battered and torn. It would all need replacing. Hopefully, they had some sort of spare armor there. He wouldn't be able to fix it without the City's forges, but he had managed whatever field repairs he could with what he could scavenge. 

The Hawk touched down on a makeshift landing pad at what was actually and old farm. Barn, house, and a waterwheel. How long had this been in operation? Beowulf has been filled in on what the Red Legion had done. This farm seemed like it had been in use as an outpost before they attacked the City though. Shaxx had been set up in the barn in an old horse stall, it seemed. And outside, there was a Redjack repair station, or something along those lines. It wasn't long before he heard a familiar voice.

"Beowulf! You're alive! Thank the Traveller!" Seraph yelled across the yard as she ran to hug him.

"Seraph!" He called back as he caught her in a hug.

They released and Seraph told him her story before giving him a tour. She had been here for quite a while and had been helping with patrols, waiting and hoping to see him alive and soon. When she was done with her story, Beowulf shared his, leaving out how he had failed to do anything to divert Cabal from the City. She didn't need his negativity right now. 

"Over here is the vaults, we lost all of our stuff back home. But if you had anything to store here you go, I guess." Seraph explained. Beowulf heard sounds in the grass nearby and jumped when Seraph squealed.

"AND LOOK! This is the best part! CHICKENS! I love chickens, Beowulf! But there's never any I can find in the City and there's _ sooo _ many here! I'm in love, honestly." Beowulf couldn't help but laugh, to which Seraph slapped his arm to make him stop. They continued the tour and concluded it with a dinner of some rations that had been handed out. They continued talking about what was going on until Beowulf decided it was time to rest for the night. Seraph agreed and they went to find open cots in the temporary barracks. Today was a day of reunions, but tomorrow he would start his patrols and soon, hopefully kick the Cabal out of their home.

**Author's Note:**

> Seraph is an Original Character from the mind of omnisan


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